Be Prepared

[Guest guest]

Sai Ram

 

‘Be Prepared’ is the motto that was given to scouts and guides to be alert

and active, to be ever-vigilant and also to be conscious of our goals and

duties.

 

Life is transient and uncertain; that's why preparation is necessary.

Engrossed as we are in other preparations, we seldom realise the need for

staying prepared for the ultimate destiny. We choose to ignore the biological

forewarnings of the transient nature of life: greying hair, wrinkling skin,

falling teeth.

 

We choose instead to camouflage these signals with the help of science and

technology, and end up forgetting or ignoring reality. However, the earlier we

get into the preparatory mode, the more equipped would we be to face judgment

day.

 

Most of our life is spent in brooding about the past that is irreparable, or

worrying about the future that is uncertain. The ideal situation is to live in

the present, for it is the present that determines our future.

 

Once, a man who was very unhappy with things around him sought the advice of

a saint. The saint, however, told him that he had barely a week to live. After a

day the saint found the man in a blissful mood. The man said that since he had

just a week to live, he spent his time beneficially by doing good to all.

 

He thereby incurred the goodwill of all and had no complaints about life.

The saint confessed that he had enacted a little drama to merely drive home the

point that each day of our life should be lived as though it is the very last

day. Life will certainly be more fulfilling, if we can live with the constant

awareness of the clock that is ticking away.

 

We need to shift focus from ourselves to others. Sri Sathya Sai Baba says:

See good, be good, do good. This is the way to God. We are so entangled in the

web of desires that there is seldom time to think about others.

 

Mother Teresa was so much in tune with others' needs that she had no desires

of her own. The heart of Buddha overflowed with compassion for one and all. When

we can identify the pain and pleasure of every other being as our very own, when

I and Mine are relegated to the background, life becomes a pleasant journey from

I to We.

 

Tomorrow when we stand before God on judgment day, He will ask: What did you

do for others?

Source:

A brief compilation from the article by Rama Sampath in "Indiatimes

Spirituality" Section: Life and Beyond

http://spirituality.indiatimes.com/articleshow/975519.cms

 

Namaste - Reet